Persuasive Essay On The Death Penalty

The death penalty, by definition, is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. Each state has their own determinates of why someone would be given the death penalty, for example, in Missouri, it is first degree murder, but for Alabama it is intentional murder with 18 aggravating factors.

Since the beginning of time there has always been the question of what to do with someone that has committed a serious offense that has resulted in serious injury or even death to a person. The death penalty has always been a topic of whether it is humane or inhumane to put someone to death over their crimes against another human being. The death penalty to some is either acceptable to where a person should be put t death for their crimes or is not doing anything to deter people from committing crimes. the death penalty is starting to become less of a punishment and more of a costly expense to taxpayers whom for “Each death penalty case in Texas costs taxpayers about $2.3 million.” The death penalty for some think it should be abolished while others would rather see it extended.

Do you ever wonder what should happen to dangerous criminals? Watching the news just thinking “huh?” Well what do you think should happen to the dangerous criminals? There are many opinions. Some people think the only option is the death penalty. I honestly agree and disagree with that because there are some death penalties are justified and some are not .Listen to these two cases.

The Death Penalty has been a long standing part of the American justice system. For many years, the death penalty went without opposition, but as of recently it has gained it’s long overdue mass opposition. The Death Penalty is barbaric, and is costing our nation obscene amounts of money. While one would think that modern-day American citizens would have done away with this method, a good portion of Americans reason that it lowers the crime rate and it provides closure (or rather vengeance) to families of victims.

As a criminal justice major, I view the death penalty as gift and a curse. The gift being that this penalty teaches criminals especially repeat offenders that if they continue down a path of violence this can be their outcome waiting to be executed. But I also believe if year after year people are still getting sentenced to death then the law has to change or be abolished. Capital punishment is currently used by thirty-one states within the United States.

The reason the death penalty should not be allowed is because it is just an easy way to get out of what the person has done. If that person does a crime they should do the time no matter what they did. No one should not be able to get an easier way out of what they have done by getting the death penalty. Jail time could be sentenced for the rest of his or her life based on the crime committed, and that way they can sit in the jail cell and really think about what they did instead of having a few minutes to live and think about it for just a second before it is over with. The crime committed should not be dismissed by a simple death penalty even if the family wants closure they should think about the fact that the person

Capital Punishment is punishment by death, it is the practice of putting a criminal to death as punishment for serious crimes. For the longest time people used their own methods of punishment, they would use the term “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”. This saying originated from Rome. But people decided there needed to be more restrictions on what you can or can't do to punish someone.

The death penalty or capital punishment has been used all over the world for many years. In the past, over 100 people have been removed from death due to DNA evidence because the legal systems got it wrong. The legal systems use the death penalty and other things like lethal injection to punish those who disobey the law in substantial ways in which they think that person should be killed for their actions. People argue that it should not be constitutional and others believe it should. While the majority of Americans believe in the death penalty, the number has steadily fallen over the past two decades. Some people have even stated that life in prison is a harsher penalty than the death penalty because of the harsh prison environment. It gives them their whole life to think about their crime. People also agree that innocent inmates might get put to death. Our three branches of government have taken part in the actions on the death penalty.

The topic, capital punishment, has been a huge controversy in the United States nowadays whether it should be abolished or continued used. Many people believe that the death penalty is something that must be used to prevent criminals from causing more violent act while others believe it is morally wrong and can have defects. Capital punishment is a very serious matter as it controls whether a person lives or die. The person can be guilty or he or she can be innocent, one can never surely know. This important decision is put in the hands of humans who can make mistakes or have biased thoughts. The death penalty should be abolished from the United States due to the imperfections of the humans running the system and the time and money going to waste investigating in each and every case.

Since the year 1973, there have been nearly 1600 people put on death row. Of those 1600, 151 of the people were exonerated, or proven not guilty. These people were very fortunate and were able to keep their lives, but not everyone is that lucky. At least 8 people have been suggested to be innocent after an execution; however nobody has been proven innocent. After an execution, there is no way to overturn a verdict. It is possible for there to be flaws such as false testimonies, inaccurate forensics, and even bias from the jury that could cost an innocent person his life. Therefore, the death penalty should be repealed because it is impossible to be one hundred percent certain every time that an individual is guilty of the crime he is being charged with.

Let’s set the scene,you come from a loving suburban family living in a nice neighborhood where barely any danger occurs. The family consists of your father, your mother, you and your younger sister. One day you arrive home and something is off, your sister hasn’t come home from school and your parents are panicking. They decided to call the cops. Days pass and there is still no sign of your sister. Finally a week and a half passes and the body finally turns up. The autopsy finds seman samples on the body and hand marks around her neck. The police report gets back to your family, and your younger sister was raped and murdered. Later that week, that man responsible was caught, arrested and on trial for the death penalty. The decision is in your hands.Do you send this man to death or have him spend the rest of his life in prison. Is there a right decision? Has justice been served? These are questions that one must ask themselves when dealing with a issue as strong as this. It is morally right for an individual to be sentenced to death if they commit such a heinous crime.

Have you ever thought about what if the person next to you is a killer or rapist? If he or she is, what would you want from the government if they had killed or raped someone you know. Would you want the government to sentence the person for life where they will take care of him or her feeding them giving them a place to sleep and spending money on them for the rest of their life or would you prefer for that person to receive the death penalty for what he or she did to someone you love. The death penalty is necessary so that people in the society including the victims family members will feel like justice is being done, and see that the government is being fair. According to Citizen10 “The death penalty is necessary because many victims families will never be able to be safe or live a normal life knowing that the person who killed family member is still alive.”

Cameron Todd Willingham was a husband and father of three infants. On December 23, 1991, Cameron woke up to his house in flames. As a result of the fire, the infants perished. When the police investigated the fire, they came to the conclusion that Cameron intentionally set the house on fire in hopes of murdering his daughters. Cameron pleaded not guilty but he was placed on death row and executed on February 17, 2004. After reopening the case and examining the evidence using modern technology, it became evident in 2011, that the fire was an accident. That's right: Cameron was innocent! The justice system failed Cameron Todd Willingham. This is one of the many reasons why the death penalty should be abolished across the United States.

According to Deathpenaltyinfo.org, as of July 1st, 2017 there were approximately 2,817 prisoners on death row. CNN.com says that, as of now, the death penalty is only legal in 31 out of the 50 states. Did you know that the average death row inmate will spend roughly 15 years in prison before they meet their final day; nearly a quarter of death row inmates die of natural causes while waiting for execution, and exhausting all of their appeals? How about that in Virginia death row inmates are now able to play games, watch TV, send emails, and have physical contact with visitors along with much more? Death row is for criminals that have committed heinous crimes and have been convicted by 12 unanimous jurors to death. So, why give them that many privileges?

I understand that because of what you have experienced you feel closure from the death penalty. I do see your point of view, so I can understand why you agree. However, I must say I disagree. It does not deter crime. A criminal is not going to stop and think “if I kill this person I will have to sit in prison or be sentenced to death”. It just does not cross people's minds. You said that you believe he knew exactly what he was doing. That statement is probably true. However, if someone commits a horrific act on purpose, they usually are happy with the outcome. I know you would like to think that after seeing the aftermath of their actions they feel remorse. The reality is that they know right from wrong. They just have no regard for that feeling of knowing they are doing something wrong.